Call for Independent Experts – Virginia Research Investment Fund

Call for Independent Experts

Dear VASEM Member,

One of the missions of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (VASEM) is to provide nonpartisan, technical expertise in science, engineering, and medicine relevant to issues important to Virginia. The Commonwealth has created the Virginia Research Investment Fund (VRIF) to grant funding for innovative research that will lead to commercialization – with the goal of growing the Virginia economy.

I am writing to ask VASEM members to serve on a panel to evaluate proposals for the Virginia Research Investment Fund. Successful proposals will describe applied research and development projects, together with plans to commercialize products or services resulting from the research. Therefore, VASEM is seeking panelists who are technical experts in the areas listed below. Since commercialization is the objective, it will be helpful if some reviewers have expertise in building startup companies as well as growing established companies. The research grant competitions are administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). More information about the VRIF is found at http://www.schev.edu/vric.

The legislation creating VRIF stipulates that proposals are to be independently evaluated for certification of the scientific merits. The statute suggested the required science and technology expertise could be found among the membership of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

The panel will likely be convened in Richmond between late-August and mid-October and reviews will be a day in duration. Panel members will receive a $200 honorarium and travel expenses will be reimbursed. Panel members will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement not to disclose proposal content. The panel will provide evaluations to the final decision authority, which is a committee, created by the same legislation that created the VRIF.

Request for academic, industry, and entrepreneurial expertise in these areas: